Jon Daneshpour called in a 56-41 win for Linden at Union. More to come from that game, but in the meantime:

We have what I’d consider our first real stunner in Union County, as last-place Roselle rises up and knocks Summit down a peg, 59-42. The Rams (3-12, 2-6 UCC Mountain) handcuffed the Hilltopper offense, holding it to just 22 points through three quarters. For a team allowing more than 60 points-per-game, that’s no small feat. This is a nice pick-me-up for Mike Smith’s struggling bunch, which has now beaten two of the top three teams in the division (GL being the other). Of course, the biggest winner in all this is Cranford, which has yet to lose in Mountain play while everyone else has a minimum of three division defeats. Summit (6-6, 5-3) turns its attention to an interesting game will Hillside tomorrow night, the first of three straight home games. The last of that trio is Cranford, but that game may not mean much if the Hilltoppers stumble even once more.

Carteret's Shaquille Jackson (3) reaches for a ball in 2008 game against Edison; Jackson hit a 3-pointer Thursday that pulled the Ramblers within a point, but it wasn't enough as they fell to Sayreville. (Ed Pagliarini/Staff Photographer)

Sayreville has quietly hit 10 wins, narrowly beating Carteret, 42-41, when the Ramblers missed a last-second jumper. The Bombers (10-5, 6-4 GMC White) trailed by seven coming into the fourth, but rallied for a four-point lead in the waning seconds. Carteret (6-8, 4-6) got a 3-pointer from Shaquille Jackson with 14 seconds to go, but after a Bomber turnover, Manny Singh couldn’t get a 15-footer to go.
The question now is, what to make of Sayreville? They avenged a double OT loss to Carteret, and other than that their losses have come to North Brunswick, Hillsborough and Monroe twice. Saturday’s trip to South Amboy to face Cardinal McCarrick could conceivably be the last regular-season game they lose, and it’s probably time to belatedly move them into the relatively small elite class in Middlesex County.

St. Joseph took its second big step toward a Red Division crown in the last three days, turning away Old Bridge, 65-54. More than any other team in the Red, the Knights have given the Falcons (13-3, 10-0) plenty of trouble, losing first by five and now by 11, though both games were close late into the third. The win comes less than 48 hours after beating East Brunswick in its first meeting with their closest competitor; if the Falcons don’t lose before the rematch in East Brunswick Feb. 10, they’ll clinch the Red Division. The toughest test between now and then appears to be a trip to South Brunswick Monday — a team St. Joe’s only beat by 31 in their first meeting.A
Old Bridge (9-7, 7-5) has been scuffling a bit of late, starting with an upset loss to Edison, but with senior forward Tyler Abad carrying the scoring load and guards Jimmy Gaffigan and Julian Daley giving them an aggressive backcourt, they should at least make a little noise in the Central Group IV bracket.

Rahway checked in with its biggest win of the season to date, upsetting Union Catholic, 59-38, and further muddling the middle of the UCC Mountain Division. Up until today, the wins hadn’t been that impressive for the Indians (5-7, 4-4), who beat Johnson, Hillside and Roselle in a span of five days in the middle of the month to start erasing an 0-5 start. But two of those three are the bottom two teams in the Valley, and none currently sport a winning record. But this — against a veteran team that was hoping to at least contend for the division title — is a big win for Rahway. We’ll learn a lot more over the next four days, as the young Indians hit to road to face division-leading Cranford and second-place Summit.
For the Vikings (7-7, 4-4), the loss isn’t the end of the world, though the margin (19 points) has to be a little troubling. Union Catholic only trailed by three at halftime, but faded after the break for their third loss in four tries. Their next two aren’t any easier than Rahway’s, with a trip to Governor Livingston Friday and a visit from Cranford Tuesday.

Keep reading to see how New Brunswick and Dayton hit 10 wins, Plainfield stayed in first place and East Brunswick bounced back:

UCC VALLEYThree nights ago, Roselle Catholic was in sole possession of first place in the division. Two nights ago, there was a three-way tie. Last night, Roselle Catholic was back alone in first place. Tonight, Dayton pulled BACK into a tie, beating Oratory Prep, 58-43. The best part is, the wacky scheduling continues tomorrow night with the fourth straight day of Valley games, and both the Bulldogs (10-3, 5-1) and Roselle Catholic will be playing. Doesn’t seem prudent to break things down too much until then. Oratory — which lost to St. Mary’s Tuesday, Dayton tonight and plays the Lions tomorrow — falls to 7-7 (2-4).
New Providence continues the slow climb back from its ugly 1-8 start, finally getting to play winless Brearley and prevailing, 82-40. The Pioneers (4-9, 3-3) still have a long way to go, but at least they’re at .500 in division play. They’ll make some noise in February, I promise you. The Bears are 0-12 (0-6); I drove through Kenilworth today, and saw a sign announcing registration for the Little League season. For the school that boasts a defending Group I finalist on the diamond, the spring can’t come soon enough.

GMC WHITE
New Brunswick also reached the 10-win mark, though the Zebras haven’t been playing quite as well as Sayreville lately, beating Colonia, 51-36. Since reeling off six straight, New Brunswick (10-7, 6-5) has alternated wins and losses in its last seven — though the wins are mostly solid (Piscataway, North Brunswick), and the defeats are nothing to be ashamed of (Monroe, Sayreville, Egg Harbor [?]).
There isn’t much to say about Colonia (2-11, 2-7), which seems to be running out of steam after suffering so many close losses. Give them credit for showing up every night, and to head coach Chris Chiera for still phoning in a 15-point loss when his team hasn’t won in two weeks.
Elsewhere, North Brunswick turned away struggling South Plainfield, 64-33, behind four double-digit scorers. The Raiders (9-7, 5-5) have won back-to-back games to get a little momentum after a 1-6 rut. Monday, they’ll see how far they can carry it when Cardinal McCarrick comes calling.

UCC WATCHUNG
Plainfield bounced back from its loss to St. Patrick as Tyrone Johnson’s 30 offset a 22-point effort by J.R. Pringley, and the Cardinal supporting cast did the rest. Not a bad effort by the Minutemen (4-10, 1-4), who were still in it at halftime. Plainfield moves to 13-1 (5-0) and keeps its slim lead ahead of Linden in both the Watchung and North 2 Group IV races.
The Tigers went up to Union and turned in a trademark defensive effort to knock off the host Farmers, 56-41. Don’t look now, but having reeled off eight wins in a row following losses to St. Pat’s and Plainfield, Linden is now 13-2 (4-1). The Farmers (8-7, 3-2) could use a marquee win sooner or later, and this wasn’t a close as they’d probably have liked, but they’ll keep on chugging. They have an intriguing bounce-back opportunity against enigmatic Westfield.
Lastly, rebuilding Scotch Plains-Fanwood went up against a host of D-I players for St. Pat’s, and the result was a predictable 83-30 thrashing. We’ll spare the Raiders (4-10) the details.

GMC RED
Other than the St. Joe’s-Old Bridge game, is was a slow night in the Red. East Brunswick bounced back by beating Woodbridge, 76-48. After mustering just 16 points in the second half of Tuesday’s loss at St. Joseph, the Bears (12-3, 9-2) erupted for 46 second-half points to pull away from the sophomore-driven Barrons (3-12, 2-9).
Edison picked up another small upset less than a week after beating Old Bridge, topping South Brunswick, 46-33. That Old Bridge win was only by a point, but after a tight first half, the Eagles (5-10, 4-7) managed to build up a decent cushion behind a big night from sophomore Greg Grippo. The Vikings (7-6, 7-4) aren’t quite the same with Kory Sanders nursing an injured foot, though sophomores Jevon Tyree and Nick Muha continue to play well.
Perth Amboy won its second in a row, topping winless J.P. Stevens, 44-34. The Panthers (5-9, 4-6) had nine different players score, and held an opponent under 40 for the second straight outing. The Hawks (0-15, 0-11) played within 10 points of another team for just the second time all season.

OTHERHillside snapped out of a five-game funk, albeit by only five, with a 64-59 win over Johnson. Keith Burgess and Shakill Copeland each scored 15 to lead the Comets (7-8, 4-4), while Frank Carnovale led another spirited effort from the Crusaders (3-10, 1-7). The losing streak is at eight, but this is the second strong outing in a row in the wake of a 13-point loss to Cranford in Clark.
Highland Park went into the fourth quarter tied, but couldn’t keep up in a 58-50 loss to Bound Brook. The Owls (5-12), remember, were once at .500, but have lost seven straight.

About Mike New

Mike New is former writer at the Home News Tribune, having covered Middlesex County softball in 2009 and 2010. A 2008 graduate of Rutgers University, he served as sports editor and managing editor of The Daily Targum. Now an assistant in the publishing world, he has returned to In the Paint and will be a weekly contributor on Sundays.